Bitcoin is consolidating from all-time highs — but will there be an altseason?

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Bitcoin is cooling off after hitting an all-time high of $124,000 last week. Ethereum has also retraced, consolidating near its previous cycle peak of $4,800 — a level not seen since the historic bull run of 2021.

With Q4 just two weeks away, investors are beginning to ask the perennial question: is an altcoin season (or “altseason”) around the corner? Traditionally, this is the time when capital rotates from Bitcoin and Ethereum into smaller-cap tokens, sparking euphoric rallies across the market. But this cycle feels different, and the question dominating crypto circles is: will there even be an altseason?

Historically, altseasons have been fueled by excess liquidity, retail speculation, and the search for “the next big thing” once BTC and ETH have already established strong uptrends. In 2017, it was ICO mania that propelled obscure projects into the stratosphere. In 2021, it was the explosion of DeFi and NFTs that drove the rally.

This time, however, the dynamics have shifted. Institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs have anchored BTC as the primary liquidity sink, while memecoins have absorbed much of the speculative excess that might otherwise have flowed into mid-cap altcoins. In fact, Ethereum’s performance relative to Bitcoin (ETH/BTC) has been on a steady decline since December 2021, only recently showing signs of stabilization.

If not for MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) sparking the trend of digital asset treasury companies (DATs), this cycle might already feel like a bear market. These DATs have not only been accumulating Bitcoin but have also turned their focus to Ethereum, with buying patterns reminiscent of the ICO craze in…